Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance her Department has provided to local highway authorities on the timely removal of (a) cones, (b) sandbags, (c) signage and (d) other abandoned roadworks equipment.

Removal of roadworks equipment comes under Section 74 of the New Roads and Street Works Act. The Act enables local highway authorities to charge utility companies for delays in completing roadworks on public highways, and since 2001 regulations have been in place which allow local highway authorities to impose charges on statutory undertakers. Every job has an end date and if works or barriers are still on site past this end date, daily charges can be imposed. These charges start at £250 a day, and on the busiest roads go up to £10,000 a day.

The Department does not hold any information on the number of reports or complaints of abandoned roadworks equipment, only local highway authorities have that information.

The A3, A31 and A331 form part of the Strategic Road Network. As such, National Highways is responsible for installing, maintaining, cleaning, and repairing signage on these roads. Damaged and incorrect road signage on any of these roads can be reported to National Highways at the following link: https://report.nationalhighways.co.uk/

National Highways maintains records of reports and complaints submitted via its online platform, including issues relating to road signage and other highway assets on the Strategic Road Network. The Department does not hold disaggregated data, but National Highways may be able to provide the number of reports concerning abandoned or incorrect equipment on the A3, A31 and A331 upon request.